Lock for wooden casket cases



- Feb.- 7, 1939. 'J, A. PU'TMAN LOCK FOR WOODEN CASKET CAES Filed Sept. 7, 1958 Patented Feb. 7, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOCK FOR WOODEN CASKET CASES I John A. Putman, Laurens, S. C.

Application September 7, 1938, Serial No. 228,831

3 Claims.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved lock or latch adapted to lock the tops of coffin or casket cases to the bodies of such cases. At the present time, it is the practice to secure the tops of these cases in position with screws. This renders itnecessary for the person putting the top in place to get down into the grave.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a latch which will permit the placing of the top in position without the necessity of anyones entering the grave. To secure this result, I provide a case-carried latch with which the top may be engaged by lowering the top with cords or ropes, the lock embodying spring detents with which the top is adapted to engage.

I am aware of the fact that it is common to provide snap fastenings for many different types of objects. However, the lock of the present invention is intended to meet the special conditions met with in the undertaking profession. Among the features which are essential in the provision of a lock of the character of that with which we are here concerned are the following:

First, the structure must be so designed as to project above the body of the case a sufilcient distance to constitute a guide for the lid as the latter is being lowered into position;

Second, because it is used upon ordinary cheap wooden cases, it must be capable of being stamped from a single piece of sheet metal; and

Third, despite the fact that it is stamped from a single piece of sheet metal, it must have such inherent stiffness. that it will not yield to an undue extent laterally, i. e., it must be stiff enough and strong enough so that .as the top is lowered into place, the spring of the lock will yield to let the top pass by but not the whole look.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views: 1

Figure 1 is a View in side elevation of one end of a casket case, showing one of the locks applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the locks, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view upon line 3-3 of Fig. 1, upon an enlarged scale.

In the drawing, 5 designates the body of the casket case and 6 the lid thereof. The locks of the present invention may be in any desired number, but there should be at least four of them, one adjacent each corner of the casket case. Each lock is formed of a single piece of sheet metal 1. The opposite sides of this sheet 55- of metal are bent or rolled to tubular form, as

preferably beveled or swaged over outwardly as indicated at I 3 to aid in guiding the lid 6 into place.

Before the case 5 is lowered into the grave, the locks are secured rigidly to the side walls thereof by screws, bolts or other suitable fastening devices, indicated at 14, which pass through the lower portions of the standards 8 and. engage the side walls of the case.

It is clear that when the relatively heavy lid 6 is lowered and is permitted to fall with a sharp blow upon the inclined surface ill of the spring section l0, said spring section will give outwardly and permit the edge of the top to snap thereby. The downwardly facing shoulder will then engage over the upper face of the lid and hold the same securely in place. The apron l2 will engage the outer edge of the lid.

The use of this device provides a structure much more resistant to the attempts of any person to tamper with a casket after it has been placed in the grave than would be the case where ordinary screws were used, because after the top has once been placed in position, it cannot be removed unless all four of the springs are pressed outwardly at the same time. This would require at least two persons to enter the grave, and even then such persons would have to stand upon the top of the casket case, and they could not simultaneously disengage the springs and raise the casket top, because of their own weight.

Furthermore, the arrangement shown lends itself very readily to being positively locked to prevent the despoiling of the grave by thieves or other ill-disposed persons, because it would be a simple matter to fill the space behind the spring tongue ill with hydraulic or Portland cement, letting such cement engage in the openings l5 of the tubular members 8.

After such cement had hardened, it would not be possible for the spring tongue Ill to be pressed outwardly. It would be difiicult to remove the cement, because the tubular members would lie close to the side of the grave, and the spring tongue itself would protect the cement from attack from the front.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth, but that it includes within its purview whatever changes fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim l. A look for a casket case comprising a conventional body portion and lid, said lock consisting of a single sheet of material provided at its edges with vertical tubular members and having its intermediate portion separated from said tubular members throughout a portion of the height of such tubular members to thereby separate the lower central portion of such piece of material from said tubular members, said lower central portion comprising an inwardly directed spring tongue presenting an inclined inner face over which the edge of the lid is adapted to ride as said lid moves downwardly, to thereby deflect the spring tongue outwardly to permit the lid to pass thereby.

2. A structure as recited in claim 1, wherein said spring tongue terminates in a downwardly directed apron which lies against the outer edge of the lid when said lid is in place.

3. A structure as recited in claim 1, wherein the metal of the lock is beveled outwardly at its top edge to constitute a guide for the lid when said lid is being lowered.

JOHN A. PUTMAN. 

